My biggest issue with the first 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Spider-Man game was the boss battles. There wasn’t too much to complain about any of them individually (I even enjoyed Screwball), but the structure of the game worked against them. It felt like you were doing cool 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Spider-Man things rather than telling a Spider-Man story, which is why it’s such a relie💎f that the sequel fixes them.
Spider-Man is head to head with Batman for the best rogue’s gallery, and the games havಞe explored their options well, mixing in classic foes, B-tier villains, and new characters. The first game is mostly about the heel turn of Otto Octavius into Doc Ock, but also prominently features Mister Negative. Both of these arcs are well done, but a superhero game needs more than just two boss battles, so more were thrown in the mix, and that’s where it fꦰell down.
In the game’s third act, you spend a lot of time jumping fromಞ boss battle to boss battle. I’m sure focus groups responded with catchphrases about how epic and exciting it was, but ultimately it means you’re locked into doing the same few things over and over, while relying too much on swapping between various gadgets with the game’s annoying radial dial. It never quite became a chore🍸, but it did get to the point where I just wanted to get it over with. Which… sure, I guess it kinda became a chore.
In Miles’ spin-off, things were shorter and more refined. Our main battle was against The Tinkerer, reimagined from a creepy old man into Miles’ school friend, while Rhino was also there again. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Spider-Man 2 learns from all of these experiences, and delivers some of my favourite boss battles since 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Batman: Arkham. It’s cliche to bring all superhero games back to Arkham, but Asylum and City remain my benchmark for so💛 many thi💃ngs, including set piece showdowns.
It has been pointed out to me that not everyone loves the🍬 Batman: Arkham bosses as much as I do. Thank🐻fully, these people are wrong.
The best boss battles across Arkham, like Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, and Professor Pyg, and the previous Spider-Man games all tell stories, both in the way you play them, and in the character interactions. You aren’t just pummelling until a health bar drops - every clash is as thematic as it is dramatic. The way these boss battles are given room to breathe, and the unique approach each of them provides turns what was a weakness fo༒r the series into a strength. Every fight matters, and not just because you need to win them to progress. In Spider-Man 2, every boss battle feels like this.
The coup de grace of this is the Kraven battle. Throughout the game, we leꩲarn that Kraven is terminally ill and wants to die on the battlefield rather than the hospital bed. He chooses New York City and its plethora of heroes📖 and villains as his grave, but finds too many of them wanting. Several Spidey villains are thrown into the ground first to break his fall six feet under, and you’re left wondering how two heroes who do not kill can take on a man who only wants a good death. Enter Venom.
Venom is one of the most photogenic characters in the game
In the game’s short playable section as Venom, we burst out into the streets on a rampage and end up in a showdown with Kraven. Venom, not beholden to the Spider-Men’s moral code, gives Kraven the ending he wanted. There have been some complaints that the subsequent battle against Venom isn’t a cinematic race through the streets, but I think this is a great example of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Insomniac learning from the past.
In the first Spider-Man game, fans would have gotten their wishes and it would have been messy. In the sequel, the rampage is sp𝕴ecifically limited to the Lizard, at a ti♚me when Peter’s own recklessness and destruction of everything he had built is mirrored across the city. Likewise, the Sandman quest is allowed to end peacefully, while the less confident original might have made room for one last super battle.
Miles’ battle against Mister Negative is also head, shoulders, and skyscrapers above his clash against Rhino. Miles goes on a journey, figuratively and literally, throughout this fight as he learns about the choices a Spider-Ma🔴n is forced to make and confronts꧂ demons he had locked away. It’s a crucial point in the narrative that brings with it some excellent and unique mechanics, rather than the story pausing for a beatdown and then starting up again.
Most boss battles across gaming stick 🍷♎in our heads because of what they mean. How they play is important, but how they deliver that gameplay and why it matters so much in the moment and beyond is far more important. Spider-Man 2 has some of the best boss battles I’ve ever played, and not just because they’re fun.